grimjim wrote:They're not.
The swirling portals, natural nexi dotted around Atys, also serve as points of resurrection pointing to at least a third source, perhaps the very one that the K's are manipulating.
OOC: (I totally forgot about those. Damnit! Kinda blows my theory, dunit? I think they are a neccisary game mechanic more than they are a lore based phenomena...but I could be wrong. To clarify: I think the only reason the portals exists at all is to provide a loading point for the game engine, not really to teleport us to a distant section of Atys. If the engine could handle us simply walking into the fyros desert from the Hidden Source, for example, I don't think we would need the portals. The same reason we have spawn points at the portals. The game engine requires that we respawn in the same land we died, and it is very possible to die right after crossing a portal, so for technical reasons, we have to be able to start over there.
Yet and still, they exist in game. Most of them have a higher power presence attached to them, but there are a couple I can think of that don't. An 'official' lore explanation of them would be nice, but it would probably be the same weak thinking that came up with the "No minerals on Atys" line.)
"And you believe, despite knowing that the rest of the entire physical universe is nothing but a series of physical reactions, just pebbles bouncing down a board. The only object in fifteen billion light years in every direction that can choose rests inside the boney bowl atop your shoulders. Right?"
--David Wong
